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| Mooney Falls: Supai Arizona, Grand Canyon |
For a lot of hikers, a trip to the Supai reservation in the
Grand Canyon to see Havasu Falls is the high watermark of a lifetime of
exploration and adventures. I’m in my
early thirties now, and I thought it was time that I made the journey myself.
After doing a lot of research online, I became an expert on Supai before I had
ever even visited. Most people agree that the best times to visit are during
the spring and fall when the temperatures are mild and the crowds are thin. I
reserved my campsite by phone for early October about 6 months before of my
trip. For three people staying two nights in the Supai campground, the fee came
to exactly 85$ per person. You don’t actually pay for anything on the phone,
they just give you a reservation number. The lodge was already completely booked, but
the prices for a room were several hundred dollars more expensive and I wouldn't have spent that much money anyway.
The next step for our trip was gathering supplies and
planning the route. The major factor to
consider in the Grand Canyon is always the weather. Summer temperatures can reach 120 degrees. In
the winter, they regularly drop below zero. Temps in the spring and fall can be unpredictable.
In early October, the weatherman called for clear skies with daytime temps in
the low 70’s, and nights in the upper 40’s. Perfection. The hike to the campground in Supai is ten
miles each way from the parking lot at Hualapai hilltop. To clear up any
confusion about directions, the best route from either direction on Route 40 is
to take route 66 and then exit North on Hualapai Highway (Indian Route 18). You just follow the Hualapai Highway for an
hour or so until it dead ends at the parking lot for Hualapai Hilltop. It should
be hard to miss. It’s the parking lot situated on the edge of a billion year
old crevasse 1 mile deep and 18 miles across.
Gear:
Considering the mild fall temperatures, I packed food for
two days, 1.5 liters of water per
person, 3-man tent split into three packs, hiking pole, 1 change of clothing
and socks, 1 light jacket, 1 light sweatshirt, 2 pound sleeping bag, sleeping
pad, gloves, hat, ten feet of nylon clothesline, cell phone, camera, 1 roll toilet paper, travel size toothbrush
and toothpaste, travel size shower gel/shampoo, needle and a small spool of thread,
1 emergency kit*
*Emergency kit
Emergency blanket,
alcohol swabs, small tube of dermabond, crazyglue, matches in waterproof
case, toilet paper, Purel hand
sanitizer, travel size suntan lotion, flashlight/headlamp with spare batteries, needle and thread, energy bars, pocket knife, emergency whistle, bandages, rain poncho, compass, water
purification tablets/iodine, powdered
Gatorade individual packs,
(You can store your emergency kit in an aluminum thermos for
boiling water in an emergency)
A very condensed trip report:
A very condensed trip report:
We left our hotel in Las Vegas early in the morning and made
the trailhead in a little under
